How bad is it REALLY to install mods midgame?

[SirCadsimar]

On 3/17/2025 at 10:18 PM, RedHeadAngel said:

@SirCadsimar @scorrp10 @Karna5
I’ve installed some outfit mods midgame without any issues. I imagine it was because they didn’t alter anything besides adding the outfits to the world.

Many outfit mods are light plugin types (ESL, ESPFE) and are usually safe to install to an ongoing playthrough.

[Karna5]

46 minutes ago, SirCadsimar said:

Many outfit mods are light plugin types (ESL, ESPFE) and are usually safe to install to an ongoing playthrough.

I'm glad you mentioned that. Whenever I install any outfit mod (which is generally several times a week), the first thing I do before logging into the game to try it is checking my plugin load order. If I see a slot was assigned to the outfit, that means it's not ESL.

So before logging into the game I open the plugin with SEEdit (XEdit) and change the flag in the header to be ESL. If XEdit tells me that's not permitted, then I renumber the records from 800 to eliminate any invalid records and then try again.

If XEdit says that's still not allowed, it gives me the reason which could be it has some kind of lighting or effect record not suitable for ESL in which case I leave it as is.

But I never ever ever (ever) allow an outfit mod to take a slot spot for no reason.

I have to do the ESL conversion before trying the outfit for the first time because once I log in with the plugin it's too late to change it.

If I decide I don't like the outfit or decide it's not suitable for my character to use I uninstall the mod before saving the game to avoid saving with a plugin installed I don't  plan to use.